The First Woman
YouTube · 2023 · 70 min
A self-produced hour of historical deep dives and lockdown awkwardness.
Sasheer Zamata’s sophomore stand-up special stands out for its blend of conversational ease and oddball historical research. Moving past typical sketch-comedy pacing, Zamata leans into a more deliberate, relaxed delivery on a stage decorated with jungle plants. She provides a funny, slightly nerdy crash course on everything from the logistics of silicone menstrual cups to the overlooked legacy of Jerrie Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world.
Filmed at Union Stage in Washington, D.C., and released independently through 800 Pound Gorilla Media in 2023, the hour represents a pivot toward self-produced work. At this point in her career, Zamata was balancing a busy acting schedule, including roles in ABC’s Home Economics and Hulu’s Woke, alongside her casting in the Marvel series Agatha All Along.
Zamata takes aim at corporate feminism and recounts the agonizing etiquette of trying to report a case of public indecency. The set thrives on highly specific moments of discomfort, like her text messages to a massage therapist after a potential COVID exposure. She links these modern anxieties with historical quirks, comparing early female aviators to historical witches to build an absurd yet grounded perspective on being a woman in America.
The set list
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Contracting COVID-19 and having to trace exposures back to a massage parlor.
Recounts the awkwardness of calling the masseuse who told her not to wear a mask, comparing the interaction to informing an ex about an STD.
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Audience crowdwork on unconventional household objects used for early masturbation.
Destigmatizes women's sexual exploration without shame by bantering with audience members over items like a spirograph pen.
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Encountering a public masturbator and deciding whether to report him.
Deliberates on systemic discrimination and privilege before deciding against reporting him, humorously styling the man as an anti-establishment folk hero taking matters into his own hands.
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Cars with eyelashes and the masculine symbolism of truck nuts.
Uses wordplay to argue that vaginas are tougher than truck nuts, pitching that cars should sport a 'snatch back' instead.
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The closer (spoiler). Show it
The historical legacy of Amelia Earhart versus Jerrie Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world.
Compares Earhart's celebrity to Kim Kardashian, highlights Mock's overlooked achievement, and ties women's history back to witches with a callback.
How it plays
- Tone
- Erudite, playful, candid, cathartic, and incisive.
- On stage
- Confident, conversational, charming, and intellectually sharp, projecting ease and comfort with awkward pauses and taboo subject matter.
- Pace
- Deliberate and measured conversational cadence, utilizing patient comedic pauses and quick wit to dismantle tension.
- About
- female sexuality and body autonomy, mental health and adult anxiety diagnosis, COVID-19 pandemic experiences, witches and women in history, female aviation pioneers, corporate feminism
What the critics said
Critically praised for its informative hilarity, clever wordplay, confident command of the stage, and cohesive balance of personal vulnerability and feminist critique.
In the room: Warm, enthusiastic, and engaged, participating openly in intimate crowdwork prompts.
Backstory
Material developed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and taped in Washington D.C. as reproductive rights were actively being dismantled in the United States; also contextualized by Zamata's adult diagnosis with anxiety and experiences navigating racial bias in healthcare.
Details
- Released
- Taped
- Union Stage, Washington
- Runtime
- 70 min
- Where
- YouTube
- Director
- Scott Moran
- Topics
- Before
- Pizza Face (2017)
More from Sasheer Zamata
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Pizza Face
Seeso
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Pizza Mind
Prime Video
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